Barclays welcomes 11 start-ups to new FinTech accelerator programme

Barclays has announced the 11 tech start-ups chosen to join its new accelerator, the Barclays Accelerator, designed to help support and grow early-stage “innovative” financial technology (FinTech) businesses from across the globe.

Led by US-founded tech accelerator Techstars, the three-month “intensive” programme is based out of Barclays’ new Escalator premises in East London’s Mile End and will look to support the 11 early-stage companies deemed capable of “shap[ing] the future of financial services”.

Chosen from over 300 applications from 50 countries including the UK, Spain, America and Sweden, the selected start-ups will now each receive $20,000 seed funding, mentoring, and advice from FinTech entrepreneurs, Barclays executives and Techstars managing directors.

There is also said to be opportunities for the participating start-ups to win investment from Barclays, as well as the potential to start a commercial relationship with the bank, either as a supplier, partner or joint licencee.

The accelerator programme will close in August with executive demo day and public investor day in London where each of the accelerator companies will present their business models to a panel of FinTech leaders and investors.

Ranging from apps for the restaurant industry to peer-to-peer mortgage deposits, the 11 FinTech start-ups selected to join the Barclays Accelerator are:

1. Aire – Enabling financial access for consumers through a next generation credit scoring algorithm. (London, UK)
2. ClauseMatch – Providing a cloud platform for matching and negotiating master agreements for trading over-the-counter derivatives and commodities. (Arundel, UK)
3. Crowdestates – Creating a peer-to-peer secured lending platform for residential mortgage deposits. (London, UK)
4. DoPay – Providing financial access to people through their corporate payroll service. (Utrecht, Netherlands)
5. Gust Pay – Making music festivals more cashless using NFC wristbands and smartphone apps. (Cape Town, South Africa)
6. Glimr (joined as Katalysator) – Providing an in-store experience and payments platform, making it possible to send targeted messages to shoppers based on proximity to products. (Stockholm, Sweden)
7. Market IQ – Providing actionable intelligence for investment professionals based on both structured and unstructured datasets. (Seattle, USA/Toronto, Canada)
8. NoviCap – Enabling businesses in credit tight markets to quickly access growth financing by auctioning their outstanding invoices to investors. (Barcelona, Spain)
9. Tryum – Delivering the “Oyster Card for the restaurant industry” – a simple, central way to manage loyalty and payments across multiple retailers. (London, UK)
10. Vieweet (joined as Virtual View App) – Providing augmented reality, together with interactive 360 degree images for social, retail, and commercial use. (London, UK)
11. Squirrel (joined as Wagevance) – Providing an ethical and affordable alternative to payday loans, through wage-backed pay advances. (London, UK)